Jack of Harts 2.5: Wolfenheim Rising Read Online Free PDF

John continued, his tone serious.  “Charles sent me a message too.  He said it might be best if I get off planet before certain people we all know come by with ill intent aimed at my person,” John chuckled then.  “Not that I’d have any idea as to why anyone would want to do anything to a simple Man of God, of course,” he added with a wink.
    “Right,” Malcolm returned in a doubtful tone and rolled his eyes at John.  “So you know nothing at all?”
    “Not a blessed thing.”  John winked, and then gave Malcolm a helpful smile.  “But if you and Charles are conspiring here, and I know you are, it comes to mind that there may be others who would be…unhappy to find out what you’ve been doing.  Or maybe that they had some role in contributing to what you’ve been doing, even if they had no idea.”
    Malcolm grunted.  He should have known that John at least would know enough about everyone involved to connect the dots even without being on the inside.  “So I suppose you want in on the project?”
    “Well, if this is as big as I think it is, I don’t want to be close to Earth when Charles’ father finds out,” he said, his tone very serious again.  Then he smiled.  “Besides, you need all the adult supervision you can get.”
    Malcolm snorted, but before he could respond the sound of feet on the stairs caught his attention.  An old man walked up into his view, grey hair and a wrinkled face telling the tale of a man that had lived nearly a century in one of the hardest businesses of all, even before Contact.  Several guards moved in his wake, scanning for threats, followed by the single guard they’d met already, moving gingerly as if afraid someone would take his head off.
    “Johnny.”  The soft but firm voice came from the old man as he walked up and hugged the pastor in the way that declared someone a member of the family, whether or not they shared actual blood relation.
    “Mikey,” John answered, returning the old man’s hug carefully.
    “And Mal,” old Mike Callahan said as he stepped over to hug him as well.
    “Hey, Old Man,” Malcolm returned, hugging the frail, old body back.  As he pulled back, he saw a necklace twinkling in the dim light of the parking garage and focused on it.  He recognized the face on the side of the coin facing him as Saint Connor, one of the Irish’s favorite saints.  The other side would be Murphy, Connor’s twin brother, and fellow enemy of all evildoers.  Malcolm smiled at the sight.  Maybe John was right about the whole religion thing when it came to working with them.
    “And my dear Dawn,” Callahan said as he opened his arms towards her.  “How goes the mission?”
    “He’s stubborn,” she answered and stepped into the old man’s arms.  He kissed her on both cheeks, marking her as a trusted member of the family for all to see.
    “Good,” Callahan said with a smile and turned to the nervous guard.  “Get back to your post,” he ordered and the man scampered away, obviously happy to still have all of his digits attached, and Callahan returned his attention to Malcolm.
    “Come in.  Come in.  If you came all this way, at this time of the morning, we must have something important to discuss,” the old man said as he turned to walk down the stairs.  “Might it have something to do with the courier boat that just came in from Sunnydale?” he asked over his shoulder.
    “Am I the last one to hear about that?” Malcolm grumbled, but followed the man down.  A red light began to blink on the cuff of his suit, telling him that they were in a jamming zone, designed to stop anybody from listening to them from a distance.  It was safe for them to talk.
    “Not quite,” Callahan said with an elaborate shrug.  “You probably knew before I did in fact.  But computers are notoriously easy to hack.  Hence our policy on them in this establishment.”
    Malcolm studied the old man for over a second before responding with a simple